Field goal at end sinks Destroyers

Orlando Predators rookie kicker John Vaughn had made only 2 of 5 field goal attempts entering last night's game against the Columbus Destroyers in Nationwide Arena.

Orlando Predators rookie kicker John Vaughn had made only 2 of 5 field goal attempts entering last night's game against the Columbus Destroyers in Nationwide Arena.

The longer of his two successful kicks was only 26 yards. So the Destroyers had to like their odds of heading to overtime when Vaughn lined up for a 32-yard attempt with two seconds left in a tie game.

But just like so much so far this season for the Destroyers, what looked good on paper turned sour in reality. Vaughn's kick split the uprights to give Orlando a 47-44 victory in front of an announced crowd of 13,035.

The loss dropped Columbus' record to 1-4 and was the Destroyers' second in as many games in Nationwide.

Destroyers quarterback Matt Nagy completed 21 of 26 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns, and fullback Harold Wells ran for two touchdowns.

But Orlando quarterback Shane Stafford was even better: 24 of 31 for 316 yards and four scores.

Orlando had 24 first downs to Columbus' 15 and averaged 7.4 yards per play to the Destroyers' 5.3.

For the fifth time in as many games, Columbus dug itself a hole by failing to score a touchdown on its first possession. As a result, the Destroyers played from behind for most of the first half.

Orlando (3-2) got a safety on consecutive sacks of Nagy for a 16-10 lead. On their next possession, the Predators extended their lead thanks to a fourth-down penalty on the Destroyers. After Columbus stuffed Orlando fullback Marlon Moye-Moore three times from the 1-yard line, Moye-Moore threw an incompletion on fourth down, only to have linebacker Leroy Thompson called for an illegal blitz to give the Predators a fresh set of downs.

Two plays later, Moye-Moore ran in for a touchdown to make it 23-10.

Columbus cut the margin to 23-16 on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Nagy to Derek Lee (nine catches for 109 yards). But Mark Lewis missed the extra-point kick.

The Destroyers then got their first defensive stop. Orlando milked the clock until seven seconds remained until halftime. On third down at the Columbus 4, defensive back Nate Coggins deflected Shane Stafford's lob to teammate Rober' Freeman for the interception.

Coggins came up big on Orlando's first possession of the second half when he broke up a fourth-down pass in the end zone.

Columbus then tied the score on a Nagy touchdown pass to Lee and again at 30-all with 10½ minutes left in the game on a 3-yard Nagy scramble.

The Destroyers tied the score for the last time with 2:31 left on a 6-yard reception by Wells.

The game then became a chess match as Orlando tried to milk the clock. On third-and-1 at the Columbus 24 with 54 seconds left, Moye-Moore slipped a tackle in the backfield and got a first down.

Orlando ran three times for little yardage before calling timeout with two seconds left to give Vaughn a chance to be the hero. A week ago in a loss to Georgia, Vaughn missed a potential tying extra point attempt and a go-ahead field goal try.